Fishing with Rod Discussion Forum
Fishing in British Columbia => General Discussion => Topic started by: fishingbuddha on March 25, 2009, 08:10:22 PM
-
i was walking along the river by my house the other day and noticed a lot of guys fishing from a dock. upon investigation i noticed they were catching herring. i have fished in steveston for 30+ years and i don't ever recall being able to catch herring in the fraser. as a kid the oddest thing we caught from gary point were undersized dungeoness crab (probably trying to make their way back to the ocean after being sorted from a crab boat)
is this a recent fishery or has there always been a fishery for herring in the fraser?
the other question i have is...can you still catch tommy cod around gary point. we used to catch tons of them as kids but i haven't seen one caught in ages.
-
This very subject was discussed several weeks ago. The "herrings" were actually shad
-
Here is the fishing report (http://www.fishingwithrod.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=20057.0) where we had a discussion about herring and shad in Steveston. I didn't have enough information to conclude that they were definitely shad, or herring. Must see them myself to determine that. Either way, it'd be a blast to catch I think. It's pretty common to reel in a dungeoness crab at Garry Point between fall and spring. I think they actually move in due to the higher percentage of saltwater in the winter months. Tomcod, there are probably some down there too. The only way to find out would be to throw some bait out there and see what happens. I've always wanted to try that again but have been too lazy to mess with bait.
-
I just checked the river in the last few minutes, # 3 road wharf, London Landing and Garry Point. Nobody fishing but the water seems clear.
-
The floating dock of the No. 2 Road Pier at London's Landing is closed right now as it requires repairs. There is another new floating dock between Garry Point and London's Landing, I think that's where fishingbuddha saw some catches of those fish.
-
just wondering what you would use to catch these shad. would a herring jig work?
-
the guys down on the wharf were using herring jigs that looked like 6 small minnow flies.
i have caught shad at the mouth of the fraser but they don't look like the ones being caught in the fraser by the wharf. the fish in the fraser definately look like herring, just a bit larger. i would be interested in finding out if they are shad because they would be fun to catch with a fly rod.
-
i will go down to the wharf on sunday and take some pictures of these fish.
-
I saw the fishing at that dock today. It was pretty crowded, and everyone was using a sturdy rod and a herring jig with about 6 hooks. I saw some caught and they looked like herring to me. There were some tangles, and curious walkers who came to check out the fishermen were in danger of getting snagged. I've lived by the river all my life and trhis is the first time I've seen anyone jigging for herring from shore.
Makes you wonder if the herring are just in the harbour or spread throughout the river now?
-
I am surprised that there are not shad in the Fraser, the Columbia has a run that is in the 10's of millions. They moved north out of California where they were stocked in the Sacramento river, all the major rivers in Oregon have them. Always wondered why they had not shown up in the Fraser or the east coast Vancouver island rivers.
-
I am surprised that there are not shad in the Fraser, the Columbia has a run that is in the 10's of millions. They moved north out of California where they were stocked in the Sacramento river, all the major rivers in Oregon have them. Always wondered why they had not shown up in the Fraser or the east coast Vancouver island rivers.
They are around but not in numbers maybe the Fraser isn't a good place for them to spawn?
-
This link tells a bit about shad.
http://www.psmfc.org/habitat/edu_shad_fact.html
Seems when the dams went in on the Columbia most fish declined, but the shad boomed as they do well in reservoirs.
This site gives fishing tips.
http://wdfw.wa.gov/outreach/fishing/shad/shad.htm
The Columbia river is the place to go.
-
This link tells a bit about shad.
http://www.psmfc.org/habitat/edu_shad_fact.html
Seems when the dams went in on the Columbia most fish declined, but the shad boomed as they do well in reservoirs.
This site gives fishing tips.
http://wdfw.wa.gov/outreach/fishing/shad/shad.htm
The Columbia river is the place to go.
Cool links-Thanks! 8)
-
I have a reference that says American Shad were first reported in the Fraser in July of 1891. They have had plenty of time to expand the population. Obviously it is not to their liking. Too bad. It would be a fun fishery early in the season.
-
To me it looks 100% like a herring. Caught a lot of those in Norway and the typical sign is the mouth,the Tarpoon got a similar one. The pic is not the best also...
-
Doesn't a herring usually come packed in a pickel jar with onions and garlic? ;D
-
For those who are interested in heading down there to catch some, please note...
You cannot use more than two hooks on your line in the tidal portion of the Fraser River, even if you are targeting herring.
http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/recfish/Tidal/area29_e.htm
It is prohibited to use more than one line when sport fishing in the tidal waters of the Fraser River. While only one line per angler may be used, gear designed to catch a maximum of two fish at one time (bar rig) is permitted in this area, provided that two single barbless hooks are being used.
-
in the tidal regs its too bad they don' t make reference on page 23 to the fact that the herring regs for tidal area 29 are different when fishing in the fraser river tidal boundaries.
-
Yes you can indeed, but there is no definition on a herring jig ie. the number of hooks. The two hooks regulation in the Tidal Fraser River would still apply when fishing within this boundary.
-
herring or shad. hopefully this will be a bigger picture.
(http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i41/jhigo/IMG_3795-1.jpg)
-
Hmmm...
Bear in mind this illustration shows exactly what an American Shad should look like but like humans they're all different.
(http://nsflyfishing.com/images/americanshad.gif)
-
I could be wrong but that sure does look more like a herring.
-
Hope this works first time posting a pic. herring.(http://i284.photobucket.com/albums/ll18/fishyfish_2008/herring.jpg)
-
The ones I saw at the Steveston dock were all usual herring sized. I think shad are bigger according to what I read.
-
herring or shad. hopefully this will be a bigger picture.
(http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i41/jhigo/IMG_3795-1.jpg)
Looks like a herring to me.
-
VANCOUVER - Silvery hordes of Pacific herring, one of the key indicator species for the health of intertidal habitats, have begun spawning again along the once-toxic shoreline of south-east False Creek.
John Harper, marine scientists who is assessing the shoreline modification program constructed in front of the athlete's village site, found the evidence at low tide last Monday.
"We stumbled across it about 3 p.m.," he said. "There is an incredible herring spawn on this shoreline. It was every place. It seemed to coincide with their (city of Vancouver) habitat restoration and shoreline rehabilitation.
"My guess is that there was a kilometre of spawn," said the scientist.
"This is a really good news story. What an incredible event."
Harper said that when he examined federal department of fisheries and oceans records available online, he could find no official record of similar spawns, at least not in the modern era.
Although there was once an extensive herring fishery in the waters immediately around Vancouver supplying smoked kippers, over the past century, False Creek's shoreline was extensively modified with landfill and industrial development which left toxic contaminants in soil and sediments.
The herring departed, so evidence that they are returning to a site of artificially-restored habitat is a major environmental success story.
Pacific herring deposit their jelly-like spawn in shallow water and it often sticks to seaweed and kelp fronds. That's precisely where Harper found it, clinging to seaweed which had grown on the rocks and gravel of an artificial island built under the federal governmentıs ³no net loss² policy for development which interfered with habitat.
"This habitat was all created as part of the shoreline restoration and waterfront walk development," Harper said. "Part of the development was creation of a habitat island." The small island, roughly the size of four tennis courts, was constructed as compensation for changes to the foreshore made during the cityıs remediation program for the terrestrial landscape said Robin Petri, a city engineer and manager of the project. She said development began in 2005. Part of the rehabilitation work involved changes to a shoreline that had already been ³totally modified² by historic development.
So the city built a long narrow tidal island at the end of a constructed wetland that treats storm runoff from the adjacent remediated lands. It becomes an island only at the highest of high tide. Apparently, it established a stretch of viable new habitat for marine life.
Harper says he was checking out the island when he spotted what looked like herring spawn on the first little spur of exposed beach that he saw.
"None of this shoreline existed a couple of years ago," he said. "The seaweed got onto the rocks and established itself and then the herrring came to spawn on it. A kilometre of spawn is pretty good.² Herring comprise one of the most important food fishes, both for humans and for many animal species including salmon, sea lions, seals, porpoises, eagles, gulls, mergansers, cormorants and other diving birds.
During the annual March spawning along the east coast of Vancouver Island, almost 100,000 marine birds were counted in less than one kilometre of coastline by one wildlife biologist.
Herring roe on kelp fronds was and remains a traditional delicacy for first nations along the coast and there is a commercial fishery for Pacific herring roe, which is a high-priced commodity in Japan where it is typically
used in making sushi or as an appetizer and is also eaten as roe-on-kelp.
shume@islandnet.com
-
I posted about this on the Vancouver Sun site not sure if it took or not.
There's always been all kinds of bait around Vancouver and gravid Herring in False Creek are nothing new.
Bait balls of Herring being dive bombed by Gulls in the creek are not unusual and large bait balls being skimmed by Eagles happen in English Bay-just like other parts of BC.
Nature here is wounded but not dead.
I suspect this scientist was set up by people looking for Good News about the whole Olympic Village scandal/boondoggle if he did his research he'd find that out and no doubt be embarrassed.
-
Finally had a look at these fish myself today. It only took one glance, they are herring, no doubt about it.